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The antidote to alternative facts at the next KPU-Science World Speaker Series event

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The antidote to alternative facts at the next KPU-Science World Speaker Series event

Thu, Nov 22, 2018

In the age of ‘alternative facts’, the scientific method is the best way of acquiring knowledge about our objective reality. This is what Dr. Jay Hosking, instructor of psychology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, will argue at the next KPU and Science World Speaker Series on November 27.

“We're living in an era of profound and deliberate distortions of the truth, and the solution to such lies is, in part, to live a life that takes advantage of the scientific method and embraces when information comes from scientific sources,” says Hosking.

He will separate skepticism from cynicism using examples from topics such as climate change and vaccination.

“While there are some notably noxious and influential offenders, there is also a pervasive, general strain of anti-science that is permeating all culture, not simply one part of the political spectrum or the other.”

Hosking says good scientific practice is about the methods used by scientists and the conclusions drawn from that information. He says his end goal is to show how this technique of acquiring quality information is better than any other process we have used in human history.

“I hope that attendees walk away reminded that, while our knowledge is obviously incomplete and fragmented, having some model of how the world works is much better than throwing our hands up and saying, ‘We can't ever truly know anything, so let's not bother.’"

What: The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living: Science, Skepticism and Evidence in the Age of ‘Alternative Facts’

Where: Science World

When: November 27, 2018. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the presentation begins at 7 p.m.